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New Years Disaster

FF Staff | National Hockey League

Aug 29, 04:59 PM | Hype this story!

Let me preface by saying that I am thrilled that the Penguins’ will be taking part in this game and it will be a great event that hockey will surely benefit from. It is just my opinion that they aren’t maximizing their return on the event.

First of all, the timing is horrible. New Years Day has always been a huge day for college football. Although the NHL is rarely covered on ESPN, you can pretty much rest assured that it won’t get but a passing glance on January 1st.

Here is the line-up of college football bowl games on January 1st.

Outback Bowl – 10:00 a.m. – ESPN (HD)
Cotton Bowl – 10:30 a.m. – FOX (HD)
Capital One Bowl – Noon – ABC (HD)
Gator Bowl – Noon – CBS (HD)
Rose Bowl Bowl – 3:30 p.m. – ABC (HD)
Sugar Bowl – 7:00 p.m. – FOX (HD)

The NHL’s version of the Ice Bowl will be in competition with six college football bowl games.

Not only that, but the timing of the game is set to to start at 1:00 p.m. So during the span of the game itself, you will have to be in competition with two games that will likely be just finishing up, two that just started and another that will just be starting when the hockey game will be finishing up.

Now, one thing that I can agree with is the placement of the game. Buffalo has shown itself to be a very good hockey town and it is close enough to attract hockey fans in the lower part of Ontario. It is also close enough for Penguins’ fans to make the drive up Rt. 79.

I’m not exactly sure on the league by-laws when it comes to changing the schedule but the Penguins and Sabres are playing each other on December 29th in Pittsburgh. Why can’t we switch these games and hold the game on the 29th?

First of all, it is a Saturday instead of a Tuesday. Although people will probably be off on January 1st, they might not feel like waking up early to make the drive out to Buffalo for the game after the parties the night before.

Secondly, having the game on a weekend would allow people more flexibility. They could either go out that Friday and spend the night and come home after the game or they could drive out in the morning and spend the rest of the day in Buffalo and drive home Sunday.

The biggest problem this poses is that the Sabres play on the 28th in New Jersey at 7:00 p.m. It would be a tough two days, having played the night before and then the outdoor game the next day.

However, if we’re moving games around, the NHL could just schedule the Devils/Sabres game on the Thursday night beforehand thus eliminating any travel worries.

The Bills are in Philadelphia the weekend of the 30th, so there won’t be a football game.

The only three college bowl games that will be held on the 29th are the Car Care Bowl, Liberty Bowl and the Alamo Bowl. I’ll take my chances against these three games compared to the 6 on New Years Day.

The NHL will benefit from being the main attraction on the 29th instead of just being an afterthought on the 1st. They’re already lacking when it comes to national exposure as it is, they need to think outside the box here and come up with a way to get this game the most exposure it can.